Best of Slots 2011 – Games
Our annual survey of best in the slot-playing world, as selected by our readers
Our Favorite Games
This year’s survey certainly confirms the strength of International Game Technology in the classic reel-spinning categories, with a surprise at the very top of the reel-spinning categories of our survey—a resurgence of the world’s oldest slot-maker, Bally. Video, with few exceptions, is the domain of WMS Gaming in our readers’ minds.
Here are the games you play.
REELS
Favorite Reel Slot Machine
The names of our favorite traditional reel-spinners always include the classics like Double Diamond, Red, White & Blue and others from IGT. But for their top pick, our players brought back an old friend.
The venerable Blazing 7s by Bally is your pick for Favorite Reel Slot Machine this year. This classic game—those multiple “7” wins, the familiar pay table—has been rejuvenated by new Bally technology, in formats like “Hot Shot” adding multiple progressive versions and a new Pro Series cabinet bringing the old favorite to new audiences.
Coming in second was the perennial favorite, IGT’s Wheel of Fortune. Double Diamond, which typically has switched places with Wheel of Fortune—which uses the game as a base slot—for years in the top spot of our survey, came in third. (Red, White & Blue and Triple Diamond, a derivative of Double Diamond, rounded out the top five.
Blazing 7’s, Bally Technologies
Wheel of Fortune, IGT
Double Diamond, IGT
Red, White & Blue, IGT
Triple Diamond, IGT
Favorite Reel Slot Graphics/Design
Not a lot has been done traditionally in the graphics department for reel-spinning slots, but few can beat the game-show look of Wheel of Fortune, which again tops this category. Right behind is the resurgent Blazing 7s from Bally—its classic graphic styling aided by newer versions with a video bonus game. WMS games round out the top five, with reel-spinning versions of Monopoly Grand Hotel, the Wizard of Oz and the original Monopoly reel game at the top of player favorites.
Wheel of Fortune, IGT
Blazing 7’s, Bally Technologies
Monopoly Grand Hotel, WMS
Wizard of Oz, WMS
Monopoly, WMS
Favorite Reel Slot Theme
As we say every year when this category comes up: Wheel.. of… FORTUNE! It was one of the first themed slot games ever, and that game-show atmosphere, complete with the familiar audience chant, still keeps players coming back. Second place goes to Blazing 7s, which has entertained for nearly two decades with the simple theme of multiple “7” combinations. Third place goes to Monopoly, the original board-game theme that has survived more than a decade in a variety of new configurations. (The Wizard of Oz and Double Diamond round out the top five.)
Wheel of Fortune, IGT
Blazing 7’s, Bally Technologies
Monopoly, WMS
Wizard of Oz, WMS
Double Diamond, IGT
Favorite Reel Slot Bonus Round
Again, at the risk of repetition, we always report the same result in this category: Wheel… of… FORTUNE! Fifteen years after its original introduction, players still love to spin that wheel.
Coming in second is a progressive bonus round, Bally’s Quick Hits. This is a simple method of winning a progressive—the more Quick Hit symbols landing on a nine-space grid, the higher the jackpot. Third place goes to Monopoly by WMS, a game theme that has yielded numerous versions over the years of that basic trip around the Atlantic City-themed game board. (Top Dollar by IGT and Blazing 7s by Bally complete the top five.)
Wheel of Fortune, IGT
Quick Hits, Bally Technologies
Monopoly, WMS
Top Dollar, IGT
Blazing 7’s, Bally Technologies
Favorite New Reel Slot Machine
Old is new, new is old. There has been a steady stream of new versions of Wheel of Fortune from IGT, the latest being the triple-wheel “Triple Extreme Spin.” Our readers’ votes most likely refer to the version of the Wheel on the giant “Center Stage” setup, “Wheel of Fortune Experience,” a version of the game with the familiar “hangman” game up on a big screen.
Second place for Favorite New Reel Slot goes to “Monopoly: Advance to Boardwalk” from WMS, with the general Monopoly theme coming in third. (Pick one of the last few Monopoly games for this one!) Fourth place goes to the latest reel-spinning “Wizard of Oz” game from WMS, with the newest Blazing 7s rounding out the top five.
Wheel of Fortune, IGT
Monopoly Advance to Boardwalk, WMS
Monopoly, WMS
Wizard of Oz, WMS
Blazing 7’s, Bally Technologies
Favorite Progressive Reel Slot Machine
This category gives another nod to IGT’s Wheel of Fortune, which is available more in progressive versions than in the stand-alone variety. Second place goes to the original big-money progressive, Megabucks, with the progressive version of Bally Blazing 7s Bally Quick Hits and Double Diamond progressive following.
Wheel of Fortune, IGT
Megabucks, IGT
Blazing 7’s, Bally’s
Quick Hits, Bally Technologies
Double Diamond, IGT
VIDEO
The video slot category can be summed up by three letters: WMS. The manufacturers’ games dominated every category but video poker, which IGT has owned since it originated video poker in the late 1970s. IGT had several games near the top in video slots, but WMS took every No. 1 award.
Favorite Video Slot Machine
Every year since its introduction four years ago, this game has topped our reader survey as Favorite Video Slot Machine. The Wizard of Oz by WMS Gaming still has players lining up to get a chance to sit down at the original “Sensory Immersion” version of the game, which uses the surround-sound vibrating chair and amazing audio and visuals to take the player on a virtual ride through the magical land as depicted in the 1939 blockbuster film of the same name.
Second place in video slots goes to IGT for Cleopatra, one of the most popular video slot games of all time; third place goes to the Monopoly series from WMS. IGT, though, cracks your top five choices with two other standouts, Sex and the City and Stinkin’ Rich.
Wizard of Oz, WMS
Cleopatra, IGT
Monopoly, WMS
Sex and the City, IGT
Stinkin Rich, IGT
Favorite Video Slot Graphics/Design
The Wizard of Oz repeats in this category as well. As we said last year, the attention to detail that went into re-creating the land of Oz in a video slot platform sets this game way ahead of competitors.
Second place goes to another WMS game, Lord of the Rings, another stunning example of a fantasy land brought to life through video graphics—in this case, J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Middle Earth.” Rounding out the top five are Monopoly by WMS, and IGT games Cleopatra and Sex and the City.
Wizard of Oz, WMS
Lord of the Rings, WMS
Monopoly, WMS
Cleopatra, IGT
Sex and the City, IGT
Favorite Video Slot Theme
What else? “We’re off to see the Wizard…” The Wizard of Oz takes one of the most beloved films of all time and uses the rich vein of characters, themes and subplots to create one of the best slot games of all time. Second and third place go to other masterfully executed theme slots from WMS, Monopoly and Lord of the Rings. IGT rounds out the top five with Sex and the City and Wild Wolf.
Wizard of Oz, WMS
Monopoly, WMS
Lord of the Rings, WMS
Sex and the City, IGT
Wild Wolf, IGT
Favorite Video Slot Bonus Round
Again, the Wizard wins. From “Flying Monkeys” that seem to fly from behind the player to turn symbols wild to the flying emeralds you pick to get one of the characters before the Great and Powerful Oz, one is hard-pressed to find a bonus round that can be considered better than this one. Second place goes to Cleopatra, for its classic, simple free-spin round, with Monopoly, Lord of the Rings and Sex and the City rounding out the top five.
Wizard of Oz, WMS
Cleopatra, IGT
Monopoly, WMS
Lord of the Rings, WMS
Sex and the City, IGT
Favorite New Video Slot Machine
Your favorite new video slot is Lord of the Rings by WMS, which uses the manufacturer’s interactive, networked “Adaptive Gaming” technology to allow players to earn “miles”—the games mirror the journey the novel’s characters took across Middle Earth—on the internet that can be applied the next time you sit at one of the games in a casino. The miles unlock successive bonus events.
Second place goes to Sex and the City, the IGT game that replicates the hit HBO series with bonus events involving shopping for shoes, picking out wardrobes and other female-favorite activities, all involving the hit show’s main characters. Third place is Wizard of Oz, which comes out with at least one new version every year, followed by The Hangover and American Idol, both mega-hits for IGT.
Lord of the Rings, WMS
Sex and the City, IGT
Wizard of Oz, WMS
The Hangover, IGT
American Idol, IGT
Favorite Video Poker Game
Video poker was invented by IGT, and IGT is the company that still makes nearly all the video poker games you find in casinos. Every year, our readers pick one of the video poker variations made by IGT—usually it’s the classic Jacks or Better or one of several Bonus Poker variations. This year, it’s the classic Jacks or Better video poker game again. It’s the easiest strategy to learn, and if you learn the strategy perfect, the 9/6 version (9-for-1 payout on the full house; 6-for-1 on the flush), returns 99.54 percent of what you put in over the long term.
Second place goes to Double Double Bonus, mainly because four Aces with a kicker gives you 2,000 credits—half a royal—followed by Deuces Wild, another game that’s easy to master, with the top pay schedule returning more than 100 percent with perfect play. Double Bonus and classic Bonus Poker round out the top five.
Jacks or Better, IGT
Double Double Bonus, IGT
Deuces Wild, IGT
Double Bonus, IGT
Bonus Poker, IGT
Favorite Video Poker Bonus Round
There are some video poker games out there with very slot-like bonus rounds, but our readers always go for the ones in which the bonus is tied to the game. Double Double Bonus, with its big money for four-of-a-kind hands, is your favorite. Second, third and fourth are Double Bonus Poker, classic Bonus Poker and Triple Double Bonus, respectively—again, that quads bonus is hard to beat. Fifth place goes to Deuces Wild, where the “bonus” is the big money for four Deuces.
Double Double Bonus, IGT
Double Bonus, IGT
Bonus Poker, IGT
Triple Double Bonus, IGT
Deuces Wild, IGT
Favorite New Video Poker Game
A new category this year, our readers voted for IGT’s Super Times Pay as their favorite new video poker entry. In this game, an extra credit wagered per hand qualifies you for a random “bonus multiplier” that can increase the payoff on a winning hand up to 5X.
Second place in the new-game category for video poker is Wheel Poker, which institutes a slot-style wheel bonus, activated on dealt quad hands. Bonus Poker and Double Double Bonus came in fourth and fifth, respectively, although the games themselves are not new. Fifth place goes to Spin Poker, the first game to add slot-like features to video poker.
Super Times Pay, IGT
Wheel Poker, IGT
Bonus Poker, IGT
Double Double Bonus, IGT
Spin Poker, IGT
